How to change book type on NEC 3520A?

[bevills1]

Can anybody tell me how to change book type on NEC 3520A using Nero or other programs? The drive was flashed with Liggy and Dee latest firmware which is supposed to enable bit setting, but I've tried DVDDecrypter and Nero 6 with latest updates and been unable to find this option. Nero Infotool shows book type as +R on Ritek R03 media, but I find no option to change book type.

[Noahtuck]

If you used liggy & dees firmware you don't have to set it anywhere, the firmware set's it to always set +R to dvd-rom, unless you did it wrong or did not use the right firmware.

I have used their firmwares for two of my NEC 3520A's and a 3550A and it's always worked perfect.
I burn with nero, imgburn, DVD Decrypter, Cdrwin, CloneCD, ect. ect. and it always works fine.

Check the burned disc's with DVDInfoPro or DVD Decrypter, they should tell you if it's set to dvd-rom. It will still show it as dvd+r for the media but will also show what the booktype is.

[bevills1]

Firmware does show dvd-rom (active) for book type, and DVDInfoPro shows book type +R for blank media. Is this what it should show, and should it show book type DVD-ROM after writing to media?

Out of curiosity I opened official firmware which shows the "ND NEC3520A is not found correctly." Does that mean unable to go back to official firmware if it were ever needed?

[KTH]

You have to burn the disc before it will show a DVD-ROM booktype. To flash back to an official firmware use NEC BinFlash software which can be found on the below listed websites. Make sure you get the correct version for you drive.


http://binflash.cdfreaks.com/

http://www.micheldeboer.nl/firmware/index.html

http://club.cdfreaks.com/showthread.php?t=96140

[bmiller]

I have used liggy and dee's firmware for my 3540 since the day i got it.It's always set to dvd-rom.No problems recording.

[bevills1]

Cool! It does indeed show DVD-ROM book type after writing DVD +R media. It's great that official firmware can be reverted to if needed. Now my Toshiba SDK610 plays DVD +R media when written as DVD-ROM. This causes me to wonder whether users at https://www.videohelp.com/dvdplayers?DVDname=toshiba+sdk610&Su ... mp;hits=25 who were able to play DVD +R backups on that player may have recorded backup as DVD-ROM thus enabling playback on the player without realizing the reason for it. I was also surprised to see just today a Toshiba SD3990 advertised for sale, and it too shows DVD -R compatibility but not DVD +R compatibility. I'd have thought all players would support both formats by now, but obviously not.

Now my next test will be to see whether DVDDecrypter iso read and iso write to DVD +R media writing as DVD-ROM to make copies of DVD backups made on the LiteOn LVW-5005 standalone recorder which before now would not play on the Toshiba DVD player regardless of whether -R or +R media was used. This was really my main reason for wanting book type change capability, and I suspect this should work. Until somebody figures out how to change book type on the LiteOn, this will be a decent solution if it works.

[Noahtuck]

Now my next test will be to see whether DVDDecrypter iso read and iso write to DVD +R media writing as DVD-ROM to make copies of DVD backups made on the LiteOn LVW-5005 standalone recorder which before now would not play on the Toshiba DVD player regardless of whether -R or +R media was used. This was really my main reason for wanting book type change capability, and I suspect this should work. Until somebody figures out how to change book type on the LiteOn, this will be a decent solution if it works.

As long as you burn +R media in that NEC it will ALWAYS be booktyped to dvd-rom, regardless how the original was made or what burning software you use.

You have changed the firmware in the drive itself to always booktype +R media to dvd-rom.

[bevills1]

That may be true for +R but does not appear to be true for +RW media, at least not for the DVDDecrypter iso read/write technique which still shows +RW book type. Either +RW media is an exception, or the iso read/write technique copies source book type and transfers it to the destination media. The same results were achieved when Nero ISO image recorder was tried, and then write that image to +RW media as well.

[lenti_75]

it is true, you forgot something here.

I burn +R and +RW with dvd-rom booktype, and use liggy's firmware, I forgot what version though.

[bevills1]

Further tests results in book type remaining +RW for both the iso read/write technique as well as simply burning burning video files from DVDShrink. This must mean +RW is exception and won't change book type with this latest 3.07 version of liggy's firmware and RICOHJPNìW1 media code discs. Does anybody know a liggy's version that will change book type for both +R and +RW media?

[OneSickPup]

Use this link:

http://club.cdfreaks.com/showthread.php?t=120934#mod-bitset

Read section Q: How do I set booktype DVD-ROM?
Especially the 35xx series update section.

[bevills1]

A few more tests now indicate book type changed to DVD-ROM on most +RW media. Only 2 discs that were previously written to as +RW refuse to change to -ROM when rewritten. This means either discs that have been previously written as +RW may not change to -ROM when rewritte to -ROM is attempted, or something odd for just those 2 particular discs. It's no problem for my purposes either way since my goal is to make DVD-ROM copies on the PC of discs created on the LiteOn LVW-5005 standalone recorder, and that seems to work quite well. I just needed to be sure it wasn't the iso read/write technique copying +RW from the source to the destination disc, and my tests have now proven that's no problem. Do you think anybody will ever create bit setting for the standalone recorders?

I've seen posts under media forum asking what's best media (+R or -R) for distribution to church members or other groups, and I'd think using +R media with bitsetting to DVD-ROM would be by far the best choice for that kind of application.

[bevills1]

The NEC 3520A now will not burn Ritek 8x -R media code TYG02 after flash with liggy's firmware, but it would burn these before flash. Nero says disk is not empty and prompts to insert blank disk when burn is attempted. DVDInfoPro shows blank disk but free capacity of only 0.03 GB. Has anyone else had this kind of problem after flash with liggy's firmware, and does anybody know a fix for this problem?

[bevills1]

A few more tries with Ritek G05 revealed some bad disks to be the culprit. After a couple of G05 failures in the NEC 3520A, I tried a string of 7 disks of which 5 failed while 2 burned successfully. I then retried the 5 failed disks on a Pioneer 107D which also failed to burn indicating bad disks and no fault of the NEC burner. A total of 91 G05 disks have been tried with 5 failures thus far and 9 more of the 100 spindle remaining. I've not had this high a rate of failure with any other disks and won't be buying any more G05 media, but I'm delighted it was the disks and not the burner.

[pijetro]

After trolling around, i've seen many indications that point to using stricly Verbatim +R disks if you're gonna bitset for DVDRom...

Can somebody fill me in here please??

I've read about bitsetting, but still don't understand the fuss..
I'm under the impression that bitsetting for DVD-Rom is for older players that won't recognize the disks...And this is for DL media only..
If this statement holds true, why don't all the writer manufacturers allow for this function, and why can't it be done at the software level?
Can there only be ONE setting??

[bevills1]

Most if not all dual layer burners set DVD +R media booktype to DVD-ROM when dual layer media is burned. Many burners do not set +R to -ROM for single layer media which is only needed for DVD players that aren't compatible with +R media. For example I have an older Toshiba player that plays all single layer -R, plays no single layer +R but will play all +R media when recorded with -ROM booktype setting. Just last week I saw an ad for a new Toshiba player also compatible with -R media only which unfortunately doesn't mean bit setting may required only for older players where single layer +R is involved. Long story short most don't need bit setting, but it's a good idea especially for disks used on numerous players or for distribution purposes to insure compatibility if +R media is used.